"We have short listed Bangladesh, Indonesia, Mozambique and Zimbabwe for acquiring coal mines and they are under consideration," India's Minister of State for Coal Dasari Narayan Rao told reporters here on the margin of a seminar.

He said a total of 35 million tonnes of coal were likely to be imported in the financial year ending on March 31, 2007.

He said cement, steel and power plants can feel now assured about coal supply as India is planning to tap coal mine abroad.

A report prepared by an official committee on Public Sector Undertakings noted the huge gap in demand and supply of metallurgical and low-ash grade coal in India and suggested CIL be allowed to invest in prospective mining opportunities abroad.

Along the lines of overseas investment arm of India's state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation, CIL, the largest coal company in the world, too has set up a separate Coal Videsh wing to explore acquisition of coal mines abroad.

To help make CIL globally competitive and establish footprints across the world, the committee suggested it be given greater functional autonomy.

At present, 50 percent of the total commercial energy needs of India is met by coal and this scenario is likely to prevail for the next two decades or so, the committee's report notes.

Since nationalisation of Indian coal mines in 1973, the resource has been dominated by the public sector.

To allow private participation in coal excavation through captive mining, the government had introduced a bill in the year 2000 to amend the Coal Mine Nationalization Act but it ran into tough opposition from trade unions.